Martin Lau Kwok-wai entered the film industry in the 1980s, working as assistant director, producer, production coordinator and occasional actor. He had worked with many noted directors, including Nam Nai-choi, Poon Man-kit, Andrew Lau, Blackie Ko, Manfred Wong, Corey Yuen, David Lai, Cash Chin and Fruit Chan, as well as the Chinese directors Huang Jianzhong and Huang Suqin.

Rogues from the North (1992) and Lonely Seventeen (1992) are Lau’s first directorial efforts and both were produced and written by Manfred Wong. Lau went on to write and direct Fist from Shaolin (1993), a Mei Ah Film Production project shot in Mainland China.

In the next few years, he worked mainly as producer and production coordinator for Mei Ah and Wong’s Artwell Productions. He then served as production manager on director Fruit Chan’s Made in Hong Kong (1997), a milestone of Hong Kong independent cinema released in the year of the Reunification. He later performed second-unit cinematography for Chan’s films and produced The Fruit is Ripe 3 (1999).

Lau’s most recent directorial project was the action film Brush Up My Sisters (2003), starring Teresa Mak, Pinky Cheung and Jade Leung. He had also served as executive producer on the Mainland Chinese romance drama Somebody to Love (2011).